"Shadow, you've actually infiltrated the organizers?" Su Ming'an was a bit surprised.

"The master of the Second Seat couldn't make it, so I'm temporarily filling in. I'm an unofficial member." Shadow dispelled the dense fog around him, revealing himself in a white robe, his long golden hair cascading down over his shoulders.

...So Shadow was just an outsider looking to get a seat. His true form was still in the universe, not actually part of the organizers. He was just occupying the nest because the master of the Second Seat didn't show up.

"Aren't your organizers trapped in the World Game? Where could the Second Seat possibly go?" Su Ming'an conversed with Shadow familiarly, unfazed by the twelve formidable beings before him.

"Trapped in the World Game? Where did you get that information?" Shadow neither confirmed nor denied: "The Second Seat may not have come because they couldn't, or maybe because they're... someone you're familiar with, and they didn't want to come, fearing a few words might give them away."

"Someone I'm familiar with?" Su Ming'an found it amusing. Who around him could possibly be part of the organizers? Could Su Rin be an organizer? Could Lv Shu be an organizer? Or those people from the Peak Alliance?

This was likely Shadow's tendency to drop vague information and observe his confused expression for fun.

At this moment, there was movement on the third "Solitary Island". After Boss Rabbit and Shadow— the third being dispelled its fog, revealing its true appearance.

It was a figure made up of vibrant colors, with a pair of twisting Demon Horns on its head, as if painted with thick oil colors to create wild features, the brows and eyes exaggerated, like a vivid clown mask, the body resembling flowing paint.

Su Ming'an stopped his conversation with Shadow. He saw the Third Seat suddenly make a "crack" sound, like a rusted music box, twisting its neck with a wild laugh toward Su Ming'an.

"—Olivius, we meet again! We meet again!!"

An indistinguishable male or female laugh sounded, with an overwhelming wave of positive emotion, Su Ming'an could even smell the happiness in the emotional tide.

Su Ming'an was momentarily stunned, and the clown face instantly closed the distance, only to suddenly stop just a whisper away.

"...Olivius." The clown face's smile slightly fell, as if a shadow was beginning to cloud its form: "Why aren't you speaking... have you forgotten me?"

"Fun Demon Kasadia?" Su Ming'an easily guessed the other's identity.

Upon hearing his response, Fun Demon quickly flashed a smile again, as if the hidden danger had never surfaced. It almost wanted to give Su Ming'an a big hug but was stopped by Shadow.

Starlight flowed between them, and both figures paused simultaneously.

"(He's not Olivius, he's Su Ming'an, can't you see?)" Shadow's communication message arrived instantly, extremely aggressive.

"(I disagree. He has equipped my dress, so he is my Contractor, even if he never praised Olivius for a thousand years, I still find him endlessly entertaining.)" Kasadia's smile remained unchanged, its beliefs were unbreakable, its verbal barrier impenetrable by Shadow: "(This is my method of pursuing positive emotions—you have no right to stop me. You have no standing, you are neither his friend nor his ally, opposing you is meaningless. Therefore, I reject your proposal, Ba Axiao.)"

"(Though Su Ming'an may not be my ally, he is my only real friend, and if he is willing to walk with me in the future, someday, he and I will forge a New World.)" Shadow also established a verbal barrier. Their debate happened so quickly, it occurred within a mere second.

Su Ming'an suddenly understood—the coldness within them.

These high-dimensional beings seemingly acted with freedom and spontaneity, but in reality, their logic was driven by interests and greed. Other than [ideal] and [brethren], they cared about nothing else—this was the absolute thinking logic of high-dimensional beings.

In Shadow's eyes, Su Ming'an represented both [ideal] and [brethren], which is why he intervened, to prevent Su Ming'an from leaning towards Kasadia's camp. To Kasadia, Su Ming'an only held interest value—providing it a means to pursue positive emotions, hence its teasing remarks. It wasn't driven purely by emotion but by emotional rationality at an extreme level.

Applying human logic to their actions would be a grave mistake. If one assumed they were easy to deal with because of their gentle demeanor, that would be completely wrong—even relatively easy-going beings like the ragged king Shadow were nothing more than a facade imposed by Su Ming'an, when in reality, Shadow could invade a civilization on a whim, and the death of seven billion people in its eyes was no different from sand grains, its life essence and thought process were fundamentally inhuman.

Su Ming'an looked around. Besides these three, the fourth "Solitary Island" all the way to the twelfth "Solitary Island," remained enveloped in dense fog.

Seeing this, Shadow looked up.

"(Aren't you all going to show your faces? Or are you too ashamed to be seen?)" Shadow started with full aggression.

The surrounding fog wavered, yet no one removed the fog.

Under the vast star sea, a cold voice arose.

"(I object. Lack of necessity.)" A mechanical voice emitted from the sixth "Solitary Island."

"(Agreed. It is still unsure what stands behind this player, nor is it confirmed whether his essence is above ours, so the decision was made to meet conservatively. Additionally, I have no acquaintance with the Star Wanderer, and need not alter my decision due to your provocation.)" A childlike voice came from the seventh "Solitary Island."

"(Stop the dispute. I inquire, has it been confirmed he holds Authority?)" A hoarse voice came from the eighth "Solitary Island."

"(I object. The probability hasn't reached 100%, and based on humanity's highest Wisdom, it still retains replicability, one cannot definitively conclude this player holds Authority. But given the Dawn Code situation in the Ninth World, if not Noel then Su Ming'an, as Noel is excluded, it can be tentatively deduced that Su Ming'an most likely holds Authority.)" A mechanical life said.

"(But he has never admitted it.)" A female voice came from the twelfth seat.

"(Once acknowledged, [Rules] are absolute, cheating comes with consequences. Therefore, there's no way he'd admit it.)" The hoarse voice said.

"(Can the Source of Authority be probed?)" Mechanical voice asked.

"(Unknown.)"

"(Has his origin been confirmed?)"

"(Only through World Game can his memories be viewed. From his memories, his origin seems ordinary, just a common human species.)"

"(Heh... we are also nothing but trapped beasts in the World Game. Perhaps, this seemingly insignificant human, is the Ruler manipulating us. Perhaps the World Game has belonged to him from the start, only he erased his memory for some purpose or desire.)"

"(Your conjecture has a certain logic, but I don't think it holds.)"

"(I could list hundreds of whimsical guesses in seconds, like he's actually a machine, or he's your Creator, or just a normal human. But we need concrete evidence, not mental impurities floating in thought.)"

"('Mental impurities' refers to the brain waves of beings, but it doesn't apply universally to mechanical life.)"

"(…I wasn't talking to you, metal scrap.)"

Su Ming'an observed these beings' exchanges coldly. These communications occurred within three seconds—it's a marvelous sensation, information once taking forever to exchange now streamed into his mind like a converging river.

This bunch thought he didn't understand and kept encrypting their communication, but in fact, he heard every word clearly.

"Ahem! Everyone, settle down! Bunny wants to speak!" Boss Rabbit coughed. The scene instantly quieted down.

Boss Rabbit was the kind with the highest authority among them, which indeed seemed to be the case.

At this moment, Boss Rabbit turned its head to Su Ming'an, showing a kind demeanor.

"Dear Number One Player, I still remember what you said—[There's something on me you all particularly want, we can cooperate]. You better not think about taking that back." Boss Rabbit wiggled its fluffy body, its blood-red eyes fixated on Su Ming'an: "I want to confirm... the thing you mentioned... does it refer to your Authority...?"

Its voice was gentle, but when twelve gazes converged on Su Ming'an, he truly experienced what it meant to feel "like needles on his back."

Shadow's gaze was the most reassuring, yet it carried a faint, nearly imperceptible coldness, as if it were also examining Su Ming'an's expression.

Boss Rabbit's gaze was most mocking, yet it seemed to surface-level mockery.

The Fun Demon's gaze was extremely erratic, as if it didn't care at all about Su Ming'an's answer; what it cared about was Su Ming'an himself. Or maybe, no matter what Su Ming'an answered, it would find it amusing.

The fourth gaze, the fifth... the twelfth gaze showed different emotions. But Su Ming'an didn't look at any of them, his gaze stopped at an empty spot.

Then, he opened his lips and said:

"——You all crave me."

Su Ming'an used a declarative sentence.

He couldn't feel their hostility, only a strong sense of greed and yearning. The authority on him was as enticing as gold to these beings.

"In the early stages of the game, I once thought that you were targeting me because you hated me, feared me, and wanted to eliminate me." His gaze was fearless. His posture was not like a human facing high-dimensional beings, but like a Chess Player overlooking twelve Chess Pieces on the board:

"But then I suddenly realized—if you truly loathed me, why did you give me the highest ruler identity after the Third World ended? Why does Boss Rabbit favor me time and again, calling me 'dear Number One Player,' treating me differently, even coming whenever I call? Including those special treatments: the large glass room at the auction, the personal channel for the Number One Player, the affectionate wording... Was that really a strategy to separate me from others? Could there be just a hint of... 'recruitment' potential?"

Boss Rabbit squinted its eyes.

Dieying showed an interested expression.

The Fun Demon floated on the high platform, staring at Su Ming'an without blinking.

The other gazes varied, filled with greed and danger, as if hunters had spotted their delicious prey.

At this moment, Su Ming'an felt he had returned to that aquarium.

Sharks, poisonous jellyfish, piranhas... these dangerous creatures, glaring inside the aquarium glass, he stood outside the glass, facing them across the nearly shattering barrier.

If his words were wrong, if the decibels were slightly higher—the glass would break, and these dangerous creatures would instantly divide and conquer him.

To them, he was an ally that could be recruited, a potentially dangerous figure who could overshadow them, a mysterious authority holder, a feast to be savored... but definitely not a Player himself.

He and they, had already stood on equal footing for the conversation. If he died, they would get nothing—his life was the handle they feared the most.

Annihilation flashed between his fingers, though it was a sharp weapon pointed at himself—it was like a sharp blade pointed at their necks.

"...Are you afraid?" He smiled.

At this moment, they seemed to fear his action—self-harm.

Whether he would retrospect them after self-harm. Or his authority was not the Death Rebound, and his authority would disappear after self-harm, were not what they wanted to see.

Even Boss Rabbit couldn't tell if Su Ming'an was actually bluffing, that he didn't have any authority at all.

They,

——feared him.

——Clearly, they were "they,"

——Clearly, he was "he."

...

The Number One Player sat in the Chess Player's position.

Opposite him, there were as many as twelve opponents.

...

"Click."

It was like the sound of a Chess Piece landing on the board.

"...So, no matter how many times you ask me—whether I have authority or not. My answer will always be the same—" Su Ming'an withdrew Annihilation, shrugged indifferently, smiled, and said:

"[I don't have it]."

"This is my eternal answer."

"If you don't believe it, try it. Oh, I almost forgot... you can't harm the Player. The identity of the Player seems like a shackle, but it's also my greatest Protective Shield."

"Our [The Republic], is the Rules themselves, they build an absolute barrier isolating high-dimensional harm for us."

"So, stop these futile probes. Boss Rabbit, even if you get a definitive answer, then what?"

"Why not talk about something practical, high-dimensional beings?"

"Click."

It was like the sound of another Chess Piece falling.

Boss Rabbit smiled, it appeared somewhat sweating, as if it didn't expect to be pushed to this point by a human.

"What do you want to talk about? My dear Number One Player?"

Su Ming'an squinted his eyes.

"Click."

He seemed to lean against the chair by the chessboard, overlooking the towering Chess Pieces, his smile icy.

"——Let's make a wager."

He said with a smile:

"Under the witness of the World Game [Rules]."

"Come make a bet with me—a normal, tiny, insignificant 19-year-old human. Great high-dimensional beings."

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